Online Marketing of Primark - Case Study Example

Online Marketing The research study is on online marketing of Primark and it s the advantages and disadvantages of online marketing. This tool is usually utilized by a company so as to gain market presence and also to reach out to more number of customers. This tool can be incorporated successfully by a company so as to facilitate long term returns at the least cost. However there are certain drawbacks of this marketing tool which makes many companies avoid such strategies and they are aligned more towards traditional marketing approach. Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Literature Review 3 Recommendations 6 Conclusion 6 Introduction Online marketing in the present scenario is considered to be the most effective tool to reach out to large base of customers. This form of marketing tool has been adopted by Primark, a British owned retailer of Irish clothes and has its presence in Germany, Austria, France, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom, Portugal, and Netherlands. The company has a total of 277 stores and the products that it offers to its customers are ladies wear, menswear, children wear, footwear, lingerie, hosiery and accessories, cosmetics and home ware. The company in the recent years has established their strategy of online marketing so as to remain competitive in the industry and even to attract more number of customers across the globe. In order to grab attention of the target market the company is focusing on displaying latest arrivals on the website with best discounts. This budgeted retailer through the concept of online marketing wants to reach out to the Generation C customers who have limited time and budget but desires to look trendy. The major advantage of online marketing for the company is that it lessens the overall cost associated with opening new stores and on the contrary disadvantage is that online marketing reduces the scope to directly communicate with customers which is essential for obtaining customer loyalty. Literature Review According to Bates (2006), online marketing can be considered to be a set of methodologies and powerful tools that are required for promoting services and products through the medium of Internet. This concept encompasses various marketing elements in comparison to that of traditional marketing technique as there are more number of marketing tools and channels available on Internet. There are several advantages that can be explored through the mechanism of online marketing such as potential growth of the company, reduced expenditure, more efficient communications, competitive advantage, enhanced quality of customer service and better control throughout the system. There are other related terms of online marketing such as web marketing, internet marketing, search engine marketing and digital marketing. The broad spectrum of online marketing varies as per the requirements of business. The effective programs related to online marketing leverage customer relationship system and consumer data. Online marketing is considered to be a tool that connects potential customers with the organization and even enhances business development to a greater degree which is not so in context of traditional marketing. This concept synergistically combines technical and creative tools of the Internet that comprises of development, advertising and sales, design, and focuses on certain business models such as lead-based websites, local search, e-commerce and affiliate marketing. The advantages of online marketing are it reduces the cost related to advertising strategies as online marketing helps in reaching to a large base of customers and even helps to design some ads that are appealing to the customers at the lowest cost. It even enhances convenience and flexibility as consumers can purchase and research on the products that are being marketed online at their leisure time. It even helps to gain statistical results without triggering any extra cost. There are multiple options available to a company in the form of online marketing such as internet ad banners, etc., and even the customers can be targeted more demographically in such a process in comparison to the procedure adopted in the offline process (Bates, 2006). The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) explains the two main factors that are considered by the customers for making online purchases. These two factors are perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the new technologies. This is widely applicable in the customer behaviour perspectives of online purchasing. The factor of perceived risk is also significant in affecting the consumer behaviour in online marketing. The behaviours and perceptions of the customers who engage in online purchasing are significantly differ from the users who access the internet for other purposes like information searching, online banking etc. A repeated buying behaviour among the customers is demonstrated in the online marketing arena if their experience of the first transaction is satisfactory for them. Thus, experiences count as a main factor influencing the customer behaviours in online marketing. The more experienced customers often have a heightened desire for high quality products and services which should be fulfilled to make them visit the websites again and purchase from there. Thus, to ensure loyalty of the customers, it is essential to create experiential value for the customers in online marketing activities. The customers of online marketing prefer highly beneficial services and facilities. Apart from ease of use, factors like the appearance of the website, the ease of navigation, the ease of ordering, viability of payment options, tracking and delivery facilities etc. are also significant in impacting the consumer behaviours. It is noted that a more number of unique provisions in the online marketing service makes the customers feel more assured of the authenticity of the website and make them non hesitant to disclose their personal and financial information in the purchase process. The more experienced buyers in online marketing show much less tolerance towards incompetent services and defects in products as compared to the comparatively new buyers. As in traditional marketing, it is essential to provide high quality products and services on order to create loyal customers. But in contrast to traditional marketing, in online marketing, it is very easy to lose loyal customers if the services provided are consistent. The services often act as a more significant factor of consumer behaviour in the online marketing processes as compared to the traditional marketing processes. Factors like reliability of the company, perceived security, online community and personalized services are important for creating a loyal customer base. As per the work of Cheung and Mathew (2003), a consumer behaviour model can be developed based on three main factors. Intention, continuance and adoptions in the consumer behaviour model refer to the main determinants of the online purchasing behaviour of consumers. (Source: Cheung and Matthew, 2013). Intentions are decided by the environmental factors like social influences, exposure to different mass media and culture which directly affect the online purchasing behaviours of the consumers. The knowledge of products and services are also a key part of the decision making processes of the consumers adoption can be done through the use of factors that lead to satisfaction. Continuance can be ensured by taking steps to retain customer for repurchasing activities. In order to enhance the consumer relationships in online marketing activities, the companies should strive to fully utilize the capabilities and potential of the internet. This would help to enhance the experiences of the consumers in this domain. Recommendations Primark had adopted the strategy of online marketing so as to gain more market presence but in the recent times much focus has not been given by the company on the online platform. The company tends to be more aligned towards opening new stores across the globe and to reduce the online presence. The company has not even renewed on its alliance with Asks website which displays all its fashion products. However there is a lot of opportunity that can be explored by the company through online marketing which can make it more competitive in the industry. The recommended strategy for the company would be to expand on its online marketing platform as this is the only way through which the company can reach out to more number of customers at the least time and cost. The company can modify on its marketing strategy by making the website look more appealing and interactive. The customers should not only be able to view products online but they should be able to interact with some highly skilled professionals of the store in order to decide on which products to purchase. For this the company needs to design a chat group where the online customers can directly communicate with the staff of the Primark stores and put across their queries and requirements. In the initial phase of online marketing expansion strategy the company can even offer desirable discounts per click on their ad banners. This would enable the company to attract more customers and gain sufficient market share. On the other hand this strategy would even enable the company to display on its latest collections and cover wide range of markets. The company can even design a new innovative online marketing platform that would have separate sections as per the gender, price, latest arrivals, and sizes which would make it more convenient for the online customers. Conclusion Primark a clothing retailer has been able to gain strong market presence due to its innovative collection and large customer base. The company attempts to expand on its market share by adopting the concept of online marketing. Through this approach the company targets those customers who have less time to visit stores but has desire to buy outfits from these stores. This tool enables the company to reach out to the younger generation who are more internet savvy. On the contrary the company is now focusing on opening retail outlets rather than giving attention on such online marketing techniques. This is not considered to be a very effective move for the long term sustainability in future and it is expected that the company focus more on such internet based technologies that would help them to reach out to more number of customers at least cost and least time possible. Bibliography Bates, A. 2006. Online Marketing and eDetailing. UK: NetworkPharma Ltd. Cheung, M. K. & Matthew, K. O. (2013). Customer Knowledge Contribution Behaviour in Social Shopping Communities. Information and management. Vol. 34(1). Read More